This invention relates to a combination lawn trimmer and mowing deck.
Conventional lawn mowers, be they walk behind, lawn tractors and riders of all types, have long had the disadvantage of an inability to closely trim or edge around stationary objects such as trees, posts, buildings and the like. Commonly, the trimming and edging is accomplished by hand, using a string trimmer or trimming mower. Such hand edging is time consuming and physically demanding.
One solution to the problem is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,754 which provides an articulated arm and trimmer for mounting on a tractor. However, the apparatus of the ""754 patent is cumbersome and not easily adaptable to smaller mowers and lawn tractors. Thus, it is desirable to provide a mower deck having an edger in combination therewith which provides a capability of trimming around stationary objects such as fences, posts, trees, walls, guard rails and the like.
Particularly troublesome areas to mow are found in cemeteries. When mowing a cemetery, one has to mow around a multitude of permanent grave stones without damaging the stones. Typically, the job is completed with a string trimmer by hand. Stone placement and size differ from cemetery to cemetery. As a result, the width of mower cut may vary from 6 to 12 inches or more depending on the cemetery, thereby creating a lot of trimming labor.
A trim mower attachment for riding mowers is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,689, however, the trim attachment is fixed in place with respect to the horizontal cut of the mower deck and is hinged to move in the vertical plane to provide compensation for the changing contours of the mowing surface. The structure provided in the ""689 patent is seriously deficient however in assisting the mower operator to closely trim around a large number of fixed obstacles such as cemetery stones and fence posts. In fact, the extent with which the trimmer is positioned outside the normal width of the mower deck forces the operator to exercise careful diligence when approaching stationary objects or risk damaging the mower.
The devices of the prior art, such as the ""754 apparatus and the ""689 apparatus, particularly lack the ability of the trimmer or edger to move horizontally outwardly or inwardly from the main mower deck to meet and trim around fixed obstacles in the cutting path. Accomplishing this trimming and edging ability while maintaining an even cut with respect to the terrain and not interfering with the operation of the main mower deck is highly desirable.
The invention is a trimmer for mower decks comprising a trimmer resiliently positioned with respect to the mower deck to have an overlapping cutting path to the cutting path of the mower deck. The preferred embodiment makes use of a trimmer pivotally connected to an arm fixed to the mower deck which allows for horizontal extension and retraction of the trimmer with respect to the mower deck. A resilient member maintains the trimmer in an extended position away from the mower deck and allows the trimmer to move to a retracted position adjacent the mower deck when it contacts a fixed obstacle and return to its extended position after the obstacle has passed. A drive for operating the trimmer is adapted to move with the trimmer. In a preferred embodiment, the trimmer includes a second resilient member pivotally connected between the arm and the trimmer which stabilizes the relative horizontal movement between the mower deck and the trimmer.
As a result, an operator may mow in a straight line and trim around stationary obstacles without interfering with the operation of the mower deck.